To tear somebody to shreds, reprimand, critize, upbraid
Contexto
“You spend years building up a sense of identity and confidence in yourself, and then you’re exposed to the opinion of the world and they just tear you to pieces and say we hate this thing about you, you’re not a nice person. They chip away the foundations of everything that your self-confidence and identity is built on,” says Beasley-Harling. “It’s not a quick fix, it takes time to build it back up again. It’s taken me about 18 months ago to feel normal again.”